By the numbers: A look at the CPL’s 2023 regular season schedule

2023-01-30

Mitchell Tierney, Digital Content Producer (@mitchelltierney)

The Canadian Premier League’s fifth season is set to kick off on April 14 at Starlight Stadium with Pacific FC hosting expansion side Vancouver FC.

The league announced its full schedule Monday, which will run from that match until Oct. 7, when it concludes at ATCO Field in Calgary where Cavalry FC play host to Pacific.

While the number of games, teams and format of the regular season is the same as last year, there are some notable differences in this year’s schedule. Here are some key numbers to keep in mind when breaking it down.

112 regular season games will be contested between the league’s eight clubs. Each club will play 28 matches, 14 home games and 14 away.

11 midweek matches will be played in the Canadian Premier League this season, down from 16 last year. Halifax and Pacific lead the league with four midweek matches each.

22 matches will be played under the Friday night lights, up from 15 contested on that day in 2022. Fans of York United, Forge and Vancouver FC, in particular, should make note of this as they play seven Friday night games each.

368 — The opening match between Vancouver FC and Pacific FC will be the 368th regular season contest in CPL history. A milestone 400th match will take place on Sunday, June 4 when Valour FC host York United at IG Field.

8 — Vancouver FC and Pacific become the seventh and eighth teams in league history to play in a season-opening match. Valour FC is the one remaining side yet to be involved in the first fixture of the year.

9 — Pacific FC start the season with a lot of time on the Island, as nine of their first 13 matches come at Starlight Stadium. That includes three straight at home to start the season for the second consecutive year, and a stretch of four straight games starting in mid-June (tied for the longest homestand in the league).

2 — The number of home games that Halifax play during their first eight matches of the season, a stretch that sees them match up against all four 2022 CPL playoffs teams, including finalist Atlético Ottawa twice.

4 — The longest homestand for any Canadian Premier League side in 2023 is four matches, shared by the aforementioned Pacific FC and York United. This is worth noting especially late in the season, as for York that four-game stretch comes in their final five matches of the year.

3 — The number of games involved in the CPL’s longest stretch of consecutive away matches for any team in 2023 — a stretch five of the eight clubs will go through at some point this year. Vancouver FC does so the earliest, as the expansion side spends the first three matchdays on the road.

22 — September is the busiest month of the CPL calendar, as 22 matches will be played during the penultimate month of the season. Given the season ends on October 7, there could be plenty of movement in the table right before the end of the year.